Dr. Pepper Girl

Chapter 3 The Pizza Proposal

Chapter 3
"You can't keep working at Giovanni's if your failing Trigonometry!" Mark hissed.

"I know it's a bad grade but please believe me I really tried to study. That class is really hard. If I pass the next test can I keep my job?" y/n pleaded.

"We'll see. And when I say pass, I don't mean a D. At least a C showing that your actually trying" Mark quipped.

"But I am trying!" you said a bit too high pitched.

Your mom interrupts, "Honey I know you like being able to buy your own clothes and cassette tapes but if you fail such an important class I agree, you will need to quit."

You quickly change into your work uniform which is just a simple red T-shirt with a white logo of the business on the back. You hightail it out of the house before the Friday dinner rush begins.

You answer phone calls, you ring up customers, you even help make the food at some point.

It's starting to slow down. At this point in your shift the owner Giovanni himself, hands you the keys and says, "I'm heading out for the night. Just put the keys in my mailbox upstairs before you go home." His home is right above the restaurant.

You start your routine of wiping down counters and sweeping the floors. You pop in your Heart cassette into the boom box. As your sweeping up the floors behind the counter you start singing "These dreams" into the broom handle like a microphone.

You don't mind closing up shop when your allowed to listen to music. Somehow you didn't hear the entrance bell ring while belting out the lyric, "There's something out there I can't resist..."

"Hey y/n! I was not expecting a concert with my food!" Gareth is looking at you grinning from ear to ear while leaning on the counter. You stammer your words. You can feel your face getting hot and red. In fact it's probably as red as the sauce Giovanni makes himself every morning.

"Free concerts when you buy two pies."
You wanted to crawl under the counter and hide among the receipt tape and menus.

You hand him two boxes of pizza and start ringing him up. How did you not notice the order was from him? You don't hear the name Gareth everyday.

"We have Hellfire tonight and Jeff made the order but I volunteered to pick up the food. We normally order earlier but we were so into the campaign we lost track of time". Gareth says casually while making circles on the counter with his finger.

"Oh yes you play Dungeons and Dragons. I've heard about that game before. Seems like a lot of fun!" you quickly chirped.

"Yes, it's a lot of fun. We play every Friday. Sometimes at the school and sometimes at each other's houses depending on the time of year. I didn't get a chance to ask you about Mr. Davies test. How did you do?"

"Not good at all. In fact my parents told me if I don't get at least a C on my next test I have to quit my job." you said while pretending to wipe off invisible crumbs off the counter.

"That sucks. I see you take notes and pay attention in class. Your doing your best. If you'd like I can tutor you." Gareth says while avoiding eye contact continuing to draw invisible circles on the counter.

"You will? That would be awesome! How much do you charge for tutoring?" Y/n asked eagerly.

"No charge, it's free. I figured I'd help you out since you told me about your job. It's no big deal. You can come to my house if your free this weekend and we can go over the new material. Do you have a piece of paper, I can give you my address and phone number?"

You hand him a piece of paper and he writes down his information. He carefully folds it in half and hands it to you. When you take it from him your fingers briefly touch. You feel a tingle of electricity that begins from your hand down to your stomach.

"I know it's last minute Gareth but would you be free at all tomorrow? I want to be able to start tutoring as soon as possible so I can get my parents off my back." Y/n states while turning off the lights in the kitchen.

"Yes of course. Yeah, parents are the worst. I have band practice tomorrow morning but after that I'm free all day."

"You are in a band? How did I not know this already?" Y/n was shocked.

"Yeah, I'm in a band called Corroded Coffin with some of the guys from Hellfire. We mostly do covers but have a couple of original songs. We play at The Hideout on Wednesday's. The crowd is mostly five drunks but it gives us good practice if we ever want to play Battle of the Bands.

While Gareth is telling you this he has both hands flat on the counter. You notice how his hands look strong and has defined veins. Are hands allowed to be sexy? You also notice he has a couple metal rings. Didn't Ashley say something about Eddie Munsons metal rings and her bare skin? Oh yes she did. How could you forget? Now your thinking about how those hands along with his metal rings would feel slowly grazing your arms and neck. You feel the pink in your cheeks blooming all over again.

"I didn't know Hawkins did Battle of the Bands. My last school did and it always had a good turnout. What time should I swing by?" Y/n trying to maintain eye contact and playing it cool.

"Hmm, how about noon?"
"Awesome, see you tomorrow Gareth. Enjoy your pizza."

Gareth takes the pizza and drives to the school drumming the steering wheel while humming Heart. He can't believe how everything fell into place. He already knew you worked at Giovanni's. He once saw you working while walking to the music store that was nearby. He also suggested to Jeff to order pizza from there while he volunteered to pick it up.

He saw the sadness in your eyes when you mentioned about the possibility of quitting your job because of Trig. Gareth was going to do anything to help you pass the next test. The thought of getting to be near you beyond one single class made him feel dizzy with excitement.